Tobago Correspondent
A soca butterfly has transitioned from the cocoon of life into the spiritual realm.
This was how Pastor Neil Parsanlal of Faith Assembly International chose to remember music icon Oscar Benjamin, stage name Oscar B, whose many talents were celebrated at his funeral yesterday.
Hundreds of mourners braved the rain to pay their respects to the popular Tobagonian whose powerful voice was first heard in Signal Hill, but later thrilled audiences around the world.
Parsanlal said Oscar B was the epitome of what it meant to be Tobagonian with unmatched style and charisma.
“His rhythm was not manufactured in a studio; it was born with the very pulse of the island,” he said.
“He lived out that Tobagonian warmth...He took that raw island energy across the waters.”
Parsanlal said although Oscar’s performance is now over and he will no longer grace this stage, his legacy lives on throughout the region. He said the former lead singer of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires was a trendsetter and pioneer for the culture.
“I recall as a student in Jamaica in the late 1990s trying to explain to my colleagues on campus how to do the butterfly and what Soca Bugle and Soca Tatie was. Jamaica had not yet caught on the carnival.”
Parsnalal noted that even though health complications challenged Oscar B, he never let it dim his light.
Oscar B’s friends from the Class of 1985 at Signal Hill were also present and remembered him as multi-talented, playing football at St Clair Coaching School while also being a member of the renowned Signal Hill choir.
Ex-classmate and close friend Floyd Gary Kerr said Oscar B was like a brother to him.
“Every time he was on the stage and saw me in the crowd, he would call me to do the butterfly,” he said.
He said he visited Benjamin in the hospital every day when he became ill.
“It is a great loss to Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean. He is a great icon.”
Oscar B’s daughter Meagan Ramsey read the eulogy next to her brother Marcus Benjamin and noted it was impossible to pigeonhole her father.
“To the Caribbean, he was Oscar B; to the audience, he was the entertainer; to fellow musicians, he was a respected colleague; to his friends, he was the life of the party—but to us, he was simply daddy. Of all the titles he carried throughout his life, we believe it was the one he treasured the most.”
She said although he made Trinidad his home for close to 30 years, her father carried the warmth of Tobago everywhere he went.
“Music was not something he did; it was part of him,” she said.
Renowned musician Carl Jacob told Guardian Media that young artistes can maximise their talents by emulating Oscar B.
“We all born with a certain gift. Oscar definitely had it, and he never held back. He gave all that he had every time. He was one of the real artistes that put T&T culture on the map.”
